Lux Aeterna
by Supermel Returns
Summary: Lightning has run from her past for over half of her life, so when it finally seems to come back to haunt her, it happens in a fashion that will put her life in danger. But, who will save her from a fate no one knows about?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** So… this is like my first fic in about a year, and my first chapter fic in a long while. You can thank FF XIII for giving me inspiration to write again, especially out of my normal first person element. ^^; Anywaysssss! I do hope you like this story. I've never really written this style of story before, so let's see if it's a hit! It's primarily Snow x Lightning, but some Snow x Serah stuff will be sprinkled in here and there. Also, as a warning, this story WILL be rated M in the future for sexual content and violence. So, I don't advise you get hooked on this story unless you're comfortble with those topics. Thanks! 8D

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Square Enix or the Final Fantasy series. If I did, Lightning and Snow would have all ready consummated their relationship and making pretty babies. :3

* * *

**Lux Aeterna**

Lightning was never one to bother with foreign language, but yet phrases of Latin always caught her unrelenting eye, and she wasn't exactly sure why. Recently though, she had taken up reading old Latin books she found from old bookstores. She had barely any spare time as it was, so whatever time she had when she wasn't helping restore Oerba or slaughtering animals who were trying to come into the village, she found herself reading books written in the dead language.

Anyone who knew Lightning would tell you she wasn't a big reader at all. Most people would be surprised to see the pink haired beauty reading for leisure. She had her excuses, though; mainly the fact that she didn't want to think about a certain blonde who was playing house with her younger sister. It was bad enough that she saw his infectious smile every night in her dreams – she didn't need to have her mind wander during the little time she had to herself. To be frank, it wasn't like Lightning hated him; she simply wanted to forget. After all, she had to deal with him for God knows how many months when they were trying to fulfill their Focus and save Cocoon at the same time.

In the distance, Lightning heard someone calling her name. A quiet sigh came out of her nose as she hauled herself from her post on the outskirts of Oerba, dutifully and thankfully heeding the call. Lightning often scolded herself after she spent extensive time thinking about him; to her, it was like she was betraying Serah in the worst of ways, and that was not at all what she wanted.

Taking long, swift steps, it wasn't long before Lightning found herself saluting her superior, General Mindra. He smiled easily at her formalities and a deep chuckle emitted from deep in his chest.

"At ease, Lieutenant." Lightning immediately dropped her hand, but her stance was still as stiff and straight as a plank of wood. "I called you here because I'd like to discuss a few things. Take a seat, please," he said calmly. She sat in the chair in front of his rich mahogany desk, staring at the smooth grain of the wood. Her stance was still proper, but she had finally managed to relax a little bit in the luxurious leather chair she was sitting in. Of course the guys in charge had the nice set ups; the rest of them slept in either personal shacks or shared one with a bunch of soldiers. Lightning was able to schmooze her way into a personal one away from everyone else. They didn't need to be in her business.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Mindra smiled knowingly. Leave it to good old Light to immediately assume something is wrong.

"No, of course not. You're one of my best soldiers, Farron, and that's the truth. The main thing I brought you here for was the fact that I've received numerous phone calls regarding your location… from your sister-" Lightning's face suddenly shot up from the intricate wood of his desk to stare right into his cerulean eyes, "I realize you asked to not let anyone know of your presence here, but it's getting a little old. It's a daily thing, and I think your sister may be starting to get a lead on your location." His voice was smooth as he spoke, but it had an edge of unmistakable apprehension. She tensed and looked at her nail beds, exhaling a small sigh from her nose.

_Oh Serah… don't you realize I _don't _want to be found?_ It pained her to know that her sister was seemingly desperate to try and find her, which made her mind take a 360 degree turn. Was she in trouble, or worse… Snow?

"Forgive me, sir. I… just let me know the next time she calls. I-" As if fate had been listening, the phone residing on Mindra's desk rang, interrupting Lightning. Without any thought whatsoever, she reached across the desk and grabbed the phone from its hilt.

"Hello?" Her voice was tepid - almost scared.

"… Light?" _Snow._ Her breath hitched in her throat and her lungs didn't want to seem to function properly. Almost painfully, deep in her chest her heart lurched forward, making her swallow hard. Never in a million years did she think of picking up the phone to find him on the other line.

When she didn't respond, Snow continued, "Where the hell are you?" His voice was hushed, "You're going to give Serah a heart attack." Hearing him speak her little sister's name made her stomach drop to her feet. In some sick, small way, she wanted to believe that Snow loved her - not her baby sister.

Lightning attempted to say something, but her mouth suddenly went dry and no words formed. On the other side, she heard the blond sigh loudly and she could only imagine him shaking his head.

"Please, Light… tell me. I worry, too," he pleaded, his tone going desperate. Unconsciously, Lightning bit her bottom lip and ran her free hand through her messy pink hair.

As she reached over to the phone's holster, she mumbled a weak, "I can't." Quickly, a finger hit the 'Cloak signal' button on his phone. She didn't want to take the chance of Snow possibly tracing her call, but at the same time she wondered if Mindra was suspicious of how she knew that button was even there.

Snow's voice began to verge on desperate. "Light, _please_. I can't have Serah waking up from nightmares anymore, nor can I deal with the burden I carry on my shoulders with the way we left things." Within an instant, Lightning's eyes turned from worried to cold. She stood slowly out of her chair and turned away from Mindra, instead facing the window.

"The way we _left_ things? If I remember right, you married my sister and went off to Palumpolem to live your joyous life together. What else is there to say? I'm not going to dwell on the past, unlike you. I think you need to stop worrying about me for once in your goddamn life and worry about your _wife._ Good-bye, Snow." Her finger rudely pressed the end call button and almost threw the phone at the wall, but then she remembered whose phone it was.

She quietly returned the phone back to its holster and looked at Mindra, offering an apologetic smile.

"Forgive me, sir. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to turn in for the night," Lightning requested in a tiny voice. Mindra stood from his chair, slicking back his red hair with a sigh.

"Request granted. Take it easy, Farron," he advised cautiously, offering her a small smile. She returned it the best she could before rushing to her shack.

Why did Snow have to call her _now_ of all times? Why not another two years? Her temper flared when she saw his face flash in her mind, and without thought, she grabbed a stone and chucked at the outside wall of her shack. Fuck Snow, _fuck him._ She just had to fall in love with a fucking idiot who didn't know who the hell he wanted, but yet apparently wanted the best of both worlds. Lightning wasn't that type of girl though; she wasn't going to let a guy walk all over her just because he can't choose between two people.

Once inside the solitude and complete silence of her room, silent tears began running down her face as she walked over to her bed. Only that dumb blond could make her cry like this, and Serah too. Something solid hit her head when she laid it down on her pillow, and she looked over to find a gift given to her from Fang and Vanille - a parting gift of sorts. She smiled through her tears as she fingered the small charm, which was engraved with the inscription: _Lux Aeterna._ Lightning vividly remembered the night they gave it to her, mainly because that was when she began her fascination with the Latin language.

* * *

"_Lightning?" The pink-haired ex-soldier looked up from her weapon to see the two Pulsian women looking down at her, Vanille smiling and Fang with a soft look on her strong face. Lightning stood from her sitting position so she could be eye level with the two._

"_What's up, guys?" Lightning naturally was a bit cautious, like she was with nearly everything. The pair looked at each other before Vanille handed Lightning a small box, with a rainbow ribbon adorning the top. A smirk crossed her face and she gave the duo a look, which elicited a giggle from Vanille._

_Curiously, she cracked open the box to find a handmade charm in the shape of a lightning bolt laying inside. The back of it had some Latin inscription that she couldn't read. _

_Fang must have noticed Lightning's difficult time reading the phrase because moments later, she murmured, "Eternal light, that's what it means. We figured it fit because while you might be a hard ass half of the time, you've really been the back bone of the group and given us the hope and light we need to believe we can prevail." A faint smile crossed Lightning's face as she extracted the charm from the box and looked at it under the moonlight. _

"_Thank you, guys. This is a very thoughtful gift," she said, her voice quiet. Vanille squeaked excitedly and hopped over to Lightning, enveloping the surprised woman in a tight hug. Lightning stood there, eyes enlarged as she awkwardly patted Vanille's back. She was _not_ a hugger. In fact, she probably had a phobia of physical contact that was outside battle or contact that she didn't initiate. But, there were only certain people she'd let hug her and not punch in retaliation, and Vanille was one of them._

_With a wave, the two women walked away arm in arm. An uneasy feeling settled at the bottom of Lightning's stomach, and she wondered to herself the motive behind the gift giving. She remembered how Fang previously turned into Ragnarok, but she didn't want think that they would decide to do it a second time. _

_She retreated back into her tent, sitting on her bed as she held the lightning bolt charm between her index finger and thumb and looked at it again. She securely placed it in the breast pocket of her jacket so the memento would be close to her heart and fell into a deep sleep._

* * *

Lightning smiled fondly at the memory, her heart aching in memory of Fang and Vanille, who now sat at the heart of the structure that prevented Cocoon from falling right onto Pulse. She placed the silver charm back in its box, which resided under her pillow now, and laid back on her bed. The only window in her whole shack was a roof window right above her head, so each night before bed, Lightning often found herself staring off into the starry abyss. In a way, it was almost overwhelming calm feeling because in Cocoon, the sky never looked quite like this. It didn't have the power to calm her.

And then she thought of him.

"God dammit, Lightning," she hissed at herself, lurching off the bed and making a bee line for her dinky bathroom. She turned the faucet on, letting the water heat until it almost scalded her skin at the touch. She splashed some on her face, gasping a little from the temperature of the water, and turned the faucet off. She stared at herself in the mirror - it was starting to become a routine for her. She'd pick out the littlest imperfections she could find and start comparing herself to Serah.

She could never figure out when she started becoming so jealous of her sister. Ever since the rather abrupt death of her parents, Lightning was the mother figure to Serah, causing her to grow up in an instant. She always pushed relationships and friendships for her sister, constantly worried about her, and even spied on the few dates Serah went on as a teenager. Sure, Lightning had a relationship here and there, but most of the time they ended up failing because the guys couldn't take how harsh the older Farron sister was, as well as how much she worried about her little sister over them.

Slowly, Lightning wiped excess water off of her mouth with the back of her hand, staring as a minuscule droplet of water ran down her face and slid down her neck.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Claire?" It was rare that Lightning ever refer to herself by her birth name. She had been spending so much time trying to forget the past, to run away from it, that she never realized all of her running had finally taken a toll. Her sea blue eyes were dull, the corners blood shot. Her pink hair hung limply over her left shoulder, any shine that used to radiate from it now gone. The dark bags under her eyes now seemed as if they were permanent, and day by day they only seemed to be getting worse.

In an instant, a deep growl came from her chest and she flung her fist at the flimsy walls, crying out in pain after the impact. Lightning sunk to the floor, holding her knees tight to her chest for security. How she came to be so weak, she didn't know. She had her theories, main one being Snow marrying her sister and leaving her in the dust, but she didn't even want to think a boy could be the reason for making her finely crafted exterior finally crack. She _never wanted to think that; she was Lightning Farron, dammit! _

As tears relentlessly rushed down her face, she curled into the fetus position on the cool tile floor of the bathroom. She felt weak; hopeless. It wasn't a feeling she was used to, but all the pressure was becoming too damn hard. She couldn't help but wonder if all of this was worth it anymore. That was the last thought that lingered on her mind before she drifted off into a slumber from pure exhaustion.

* * *

Quiet voices surrounded her head in a swirl of words, none of which she understood. She tried to open her eyes, but it felt as if they weighed a ton each. Her mouth was as dry as a cotton ball and she couldn't even try to move her muscles. Everything started to add up; the swirling, inability to move or talk, and the now feeling of a horrible hangover - she was drugged.

"Are you sure this is even her?"

"Positive. She matches the photo exactly, right down to the belly button piercing." This voice was a lot more daunting than the last, which sounded more sadistic than anything. Lightning faintly heard large footsteps coming closer to her, and soon felt the hot breath of the speaker looming over her. One calloused finger grazed over her chapped lips, and she could feel heat rising on her face in anger. If she wasn't drugged, she would kick the living daylights out of both men who were intruding her house.

"I suppose so. It's a shame that such a beauty is going to waste. Maybe she'll think twice next time," the first voice mumbled, his lighter foot steps coming towards her now. Lightning finally managed to groan quietly, alerting the first man. "It seems the drugs are wearing off. Quick, let's move her before she causes any trouble." Before Lightning could even comprehend anything, she heard the sound of duct tape ripping and right as she finally opened her eyes, a large slab of tape was placed over her mouth. She yelled in protest, but anything she said came out jumbled from the constricting tape. She tried to fight off the two men who were now binding her hands and feet together with steel wire, but the one closest to her punched her square in the jaw. Blood sputtered out of her barely open mouth, only a drop or two able to escape from the tape.

A bag of sorts was thrown over her head, blocking her vision, and she was soon lifted and thrown presumably into a vehicle. Her back hit hard metal, causing a sharp jab of pain to rip through her side. With the state she found herself in, Lightning didn't even think before she squirmed and fight out of her restraints. Normally, she would have known better than to resist capture, especially if she didn't have the lower hand, but with her mental state, her normal inhibitions were thrown out of the window. She soon was being kicked multiple times in the gut, tears flowing out of her without remorse from the radiating pain deep in her belly, and the last thing she heard before she blacked out was:

"L'Cie scum."

* * *

**Dun dun! I love cliffhangers. =) I promise the next chapter will have some of Snow's PoV, but I also do promise some clarity on the Lightning situation. I would be extremely grateful if you would review this, good or bad. I especially love constrictive criticism. ^^ I'm hoping the next chapter to be up by Sunday, but no promises. Hope you enjoyed!**

**-Mel**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So, here I am with the update! I'd like to thank all of you who've read my story, those who have put it on Story Alert, and especially to my first (and only) reviewer, **amerie-san**! You seriously made my day with your review, so this chapter is dedicated to you! ^^

This chapter **WILL** be _considerably _more graphic than the last, but not enough to warrant the M rating yet, but DO EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN. I can only put so much content into a T fic and not get yelled at for it. So, just keep on the watch!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Square Enix or the Final Fantasy series. Get off my ass.

* * *

Chapter Two

A throaty moan came muffled from behind the piece of duct tape as Lightning groggily attempted to open her eyes. Her lower body ached, presumably from being kicked in the gut multiple times, and she felt like someone hit her with a wrecking ball. Her vision was still blocked by the bag over her head, but it wasn't like she wanted to do anything in that moment; she just wanted to give up.

Multiple voices surrounded her, all of them sounding masculine. She strained herself to try and see if she could pick up any sentences, but to no avail - they must have drugged her again. No wonder she felt so loopy. One of the indistinct voices got closer to her proximity, but of all the things the guy did, all she could comprehend was him jamming his finger into her shoulder. She played along, deciding to tip over to she was laying on her stomach instead of her side; no one needed to know she was awake.

"Sounds… drugs…" were the only words she was able to catch coming from his mouth. Lightning presumed that he thought she was still knocked out, and that's exactly what she wanted them to think.

Her mind soon wandered to the last thing she remembered: _"L'Cie scum"._ A sick feeling twisted in her stomach at the thought of being a l'Cie again, but it was obvious her captors thought she still bore the cursed mark. Hell, there weren't even any traces left of the once growing mark. If there was, Lightning would have long ago tried to scrub it off - all in vain, of course.

Whatever vehicle she was in came to a sudden stop, causing her to fly forward and hit her head hard against a wall. If she wasn't awake before, she sure as hell was now. It took all of the little strength she had not to start crying from the throbbing in her cranium. The pain hurt like a bitch now as it spread across her whole body, not just her abdomen. Strong arms curled around Lightning's weak, limp body as to haul her out of the vehicle. Her boots dragged across the pavement, the men carrying her not even bothering with her comfort in any way possible.

At that moment, Lightning knew she was in hell. And if she didn't, she was assured when her body was crudely thrown into a chair and the bag removed off of her head, blinding her with a scorching light. Her pupils took a few seconds to adjust to the harsh light, but once she could see past it, she caught sight of a man staring her straight in the eyes. The intensity of his glare was one that would make normal people squirm in their seats. Then again, Lightning wasn't a normal person.

The man started off blunt, "Is your name Claire Averia Farron, also known by the alias 'Lightning'?" The coldness of his voice sent a violent rip of shudders up Lightning's spine.

Not responding, she just continued to stare at him. He had very sharp features - his nose, cheekbones, and jaw looked like they could cut something from how they jutted from his thin face. His eyes were a cold gray, with nothing but sadism gleaming from them. Even his posture read sadistic. The only thing moderately "normal" was his black hair, not slicked back like Lightning would have expected, but instead messy and hanging over his forehead loosely.

The man noticed the silence coming from his captor and slid over to her, violently ripping the duct tape from her lips. Lightning cried out in pain, the area around her lips prodding in pain. She could barely open her mouth from all the crusted blood, and of course that was a painful venture as well. She figured if she was going to be in this place a while, she might as well get used to the feeling of pain.

"Answer me, bitch!" He spat, turning angrily on his heel to face her. This man definitely wasn't a kind one. Lightning just gave him a cold, dead stare in response. Her energy was waning and she could feel exhaustion pulling her back under, but she fought it with an iron fist.

"No," she boldly refused, but it didn't come off as well as she anticipated; her voice cracked at the very end of it. The room went dead silent, enough to wear a pin could be heard if it was dropped. One of the man's henchmen whistled low and now everyone was intently watching his moves. He got so close to Lightning's face that she could smell the spearmint coming from his breath.

"No? Did you just refuse me?" Lightning was sure by this point that everyone in the room could hear her heart thudding against her ribcage in a violent fashion, but she kept her smooth exterior thick and strong.

"Yes, I did," she rebuked. One of the other men mumbled something incoherent, but it sounded like "Oh shit" to Lightning. Without another thought, the man punched her hard in the cheek, causing her cough up a large quantity of blood from her mouth. Painful coughs riddled her body as she tried in vain to get the blood out of her throat, but it stayed lodged there. Her head hung limply and she fought her hardest not to succumb to the darkness trying to pull her under. She could taste the coopery blood on her tongue, and could feel it running down her jaw.

Roughly, the man grabbed Lightning's jaw with a surprisingly smooth hand, and forced her to look up at him. He paid no mind to the fact that blood was getting all over his hand.

"Answer my questions, or we kill someone you love. How about… your little sister, Serah?" Lightning's heart stopped in her chest. No, they couldn't possibly have her sister in custody; Snow would have tipped her off. She started to panic though, and licked the blood off her lips so she could speak.

"Fine… I will," she gave in, her normally smooth voice raspy.

The man smiled a smile that made Lightning's stomach turn. "So, my dear, are you Claire Averia Farron, also known by the alias 'Lightning'?"

"Yes."

"Good. Are you or were you at one point a Pulse l'Cie?" There was the dreaded question. Lightning didn't know how to answer that question. If she told him no, he might try and harm Serah, but if she told him yes, she'd be lying through her teeth.

She went with the truth, "I was." The man scratched the non-existent stubble on his chin as he circled around the chair. By the tone of his body language, he seemed contemplative.

"Was… hmm. I guess we'll just have to find out. Boys, take her into the lab - we have some tests to run. You also can do as you please with her until I return." Without another word, the man stalked out of the room, leaving Lightning alone with the ravenous men in the room. She could feel and taste thick bile rising in the back of her throat as the group of five or so men closed in on Lightning. She knew exactly what the man meant when he said "Do as you please with her", and that did not bode with her well at all. She had too much pride to let a bunch of men do whatever they pleased with her, but with her current state of being, she could do nothing more than let them haul her away.

She barely comprehended her back hitting a solid metal table, and didn't even try to put up a fight as multiple men shredded the clothes off of her body, and the last of her pride. Men roughly groped her breasts, bit down on her skin, and touched her in places normally private. Silent tears streaked down her face as she finally gave into her exhaustion. Her vision blurred and her whole body went numb, which was something Lightning was thankful for considering how she was being ripped of her dignity at that very moment. Right before she was pulled under, Lightning noticed a shaggy head of hair standing far away from the table she was pinned down to. She almost couldn't believe her eyes.

"Snow?" And then everything went black.

* * *

Cool beads of sweat trailed down his forehead and neck as he rolled off his wife, mentally smacking himself in the head. Why now of all times did he have to have competency issues? Never before had there been problems with him becoming aroused, but there must have been something that was causing him not to be excited.

A light hand touched his shoulder, causing him to sigh. "Snow? Is everything okay, baby?" Gently, he placed his hand on top of hers, but still didn't face her.

"Yeah… I don't know what's up," he mumbled. This was utterly embarrassing for him. He wanted nothing more than to hide his face and never show it in public again. Her hand moved from his shoulder to his torso, her other arm winding around his muscular waist and lazily running her hands over his taut skin.

"We don't have to have sex tonight, Snow. It's not going to be the end of the world."

"But I _want_ to, Serah. It's just kind of embarrassing that I can't get up for my own wife," he interjected, turning to face her. Sudden flashes of the older Farron's face hid hers, making him shut his eyes and rub them quickly. No, he wasn't going to do this again; he wasn't going to pretend it was Lightning he was having sex with instead of Serah. The last time he did it, he almost slipped out her name, and he didn't want to actually do it that time.

Snow's mind must have hated him horribly, though.

His mind was soon invaded by flooding images of the first and only time Lightning and Snow got physically intimate. Sure, they shared other heated moments, but nothing quite like that. Before he knew it, Snow could feel a hard-on coming on, and a sigh of relief exuding from his nose.

"See? I knew I could do it," he joked to Serah, leading one of her hands to his stiff counterpart. He shuddered in response from her smooth skin against his erection, seeing the crystal clear image of Lightning in his mind instead to keep his momentum going. Serah crashed her soft lips against his, tangling their tongues together in a passionate kiss. Sure, Snow was enjoying himself, but he was imaging something far different - and something far more enjoyable to him - than what was happening between him and Serah.

* * *

_Snow had been sleeping soundly in his tent, not even put off by Sazh's obnoxious snoring in the tent nearby or the music Hope just_ had _to have when he slept. Then again, his tent was a little further away so that he could patrol easier. The sound of someone unzipping his tent, though, made him shoot straight up from his sleep and go on alert. _

"_Who's there?" His voice was quiet, yet threatening. His shoulders eased when he saw a long, silky leg slide into the tent, followed by a head of messy pink hair. Snow cocked his head quizzically at Lightning as she re-zipped his tent back up and turned to face him. She was biting down on her full bottom lip, dressed only in a small pair of black shorts and the turtleneck she wore under her coat._

"_Is something wrong, Light-" Before Snow knew it, Lightning was on her knees and kissing him with fervor. While the notion surprised him, he soon became entranced in her lips and wrapped his strong arms around her bare waist. He was unable to resist the feel of her perfectly smooth skin against his calloused hands, and he could tell she enjoyed it all the same. A breathy moan escaped her lips into his mouth, and immediately Snow could feel himself growing hard. Only Lightning could cause his body to react this way._

_In an out-of-character moment, Snow suddenly pulled her small frame off of him and looked at her straight in the eyes. Her sea blue eyes were hazed over, presumably with lust, and her body quivered in the slightest way under his touch. _

"_What are you doing, Lightning?" He asked, his voice betraying him and cracking at the end. It was hard resisting the pink-haired vixen before him, especially with the extremely noticeable hard-on in his thin cotton sleeping pants._

"_I-I need you, Snow," she breathed, leading his hand to the apex of her shorts and forcing him to press down over her core. He audibly groaned when he felt how wet her shorts were,. He thought he was hard before, but now he could feel more blood rushing south of the border. _

_Not taking another moment to think, Snow flipped Lightning over with ease and pinned her to the ground with his large body. He resumed the heated kiss, letting out a low groan when he felt Lightning's nails graze slowly over his abs. He hurriedly ripped off her turtleneck and shorts, leaving her in lacy black lingerie. Snow smiled a little at the jewelry adorning her belly button. For some reason, he couldn't see her as the type of person to get her belly button pierced. Then again, he also didn't see her as the type of person to make midnight booty calls, but here they were._

_It was then that Snow could tell Lightning was really horny, mainly because she was forcing his pants and his boxers off at the same time. He sighed in sweet relief when she succeeded and went on to removed her own underwear. He spent a lot more time, though, and was in a way teasing her._

_Lightning was obviously frustrated with his childish antics, at least in her point of view. "God, Snow, just take it off," she grunted, started to remove the lingerie herself. Snow's hands shot out just quick enough to stop her, and gave her a seductive smile._

"_Patience, Light," he murmured huskily, slowly removing her bra. Her breasts fell out almost in slow motion, and for the umpteenth time that night, he felt more blood rushing to his ever growing erection. _

_Teasingly, Snow blew cold air over her breasts, reveling in the sound of her whimper and the sight of her nipples hardening. He took one lightly in his mouth, but only swirling his tongue around it momentarily before moving to the other. He honestly wasn't sure how much longer he could last with Lightning arching her back, and breathing out his name as if he were some sort of god. _

_Obviously, he decided not long; with one swift motion, he slid her panties from her hips, making sure to graze his hand along her silky smooth skin. Now that she had nothing covering her perfect body, Snow really soaked in how beautiful the woman laying beneath him was. She wasn't a delicate beauty like his fiancé - she was breathtaking. If he could spend every moment of the rest of his life staring at Lightning's beauty, he would._

_Snow didn't realize how taken he was with staring at Lightning until he heard a slightly impatient moan, followed with a tasteful grind against his hard-on. He had to bite down hard on bit bottom lip to stop himself from letting out a loud groan. There was no way in hell he could let the others hear his and Lightning's sexcapades; they would never live to see the end of it._

_In a flash of light…_

* * *

Snow popped from his memory when he felt Serah collapse on top of him, leaving him moderately confused. He looked down at his naked body, noticing he no longer was hard, but it was obvious the intended result happened. He cheered to himself on the inside, but he still couldn't shake the memory from his head. He wanted to finish it - to remember how Lightning whimpered his name in ecstasy and how her heat felt around his hard shaft - but alas, if he did, he'd have to go for round two, and Snow just wasn't in the mood.

Slowly, Serah brought her face up to Snow's and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He kissed her back and hugged her sweaty body against his, letting out a content sigh.

"Thanks, baby," she mumbled quietly.

"You're always welcome," he sighed as he kissed her forehead. Snow started sitting up, causing Serah to removed herself from Snow's muscular frame and scurry around to find her pajamas. He slid out of the bed and pulled a pair of sweats up his long legs, exhaling a long sigh when he recognized them as the same pants from his memory. He really needed to stop doing this to himself. It was overly obvious Lightning didn't return his feelings, and even if she did, she didn't want him anymore. He pretty much fucked up any chance they had when he chose Serah over her. He wasn't proud of his choice, and most days he wished he could've taken it back, but he still loved Serah and couldn't leave her in the dust like that.

His sapphire eyes watched Serah as she wandered out of the room, taking note of her body language. She was still stressed about her sister, and it read in her posture. Snow had his ideas of where Lightning was, but he couldn't come to a conclusion. During their little chat on the phone earlier that day, he had attempted to get the area code, but the signal was suddenly blocked and he lost what information he had retrieved.

Snow stood off his bed, stretching his arms above his head with an obnoxiously loud yawn. He rubbed the back of his neck as he made his way to the door, but the buzzing of his phone on his dresser stopped him in his tracks. He made a bee line to his phone and answered it without even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this… Snow Villiers?" The voice sounded formal, like a soldier or something similar.

"Yes it is. May I ask who's calling?" Snow asked, his voice cautious. He wasn't sure whether to be worried or not.

"My name is General Samuel Mindra. According to my records, you were the one to contact Lieutenant Lightning Farron. Do you know of her location?" Now Snow was worried. He began pacing around the room in response.

"What do you mean? Isn't she on your base or whatever?" Mindra sighed on the other line. Snow had a sick feeling in his stomach that this wouldn't be good.

"I hate to be the one to break this to you… she went missing, presumably last night. Her housing unit looked as if someone broke in, and maybe even kidnapped her. I was hoping that my preconceived notions were wrong, but it doesn't sound like it…" No, not Lightning. Not her. Snow was silent for what seemed like forever, still trying to find the right words to say. He couldn't just say he was sorry, but he didn't necessarily want to be rash either and thrust himself out there to find her.

But all he knew was Serah could NOT know.

Chalking up all his courage, Snow replied, "Leave it to me, General. I'll find her."

"Farron said you did have a hero complex," Mindra said with a laugh. Despite the tense situation, Snow found himself smiling a little, but it faded when he realized he didn't even know where to start.

"Where are you located? That way I know where to start?"

"Forgive my stupidity. Farron was stationed here in Oerba. Please, come to my office before you embark. I'll tell you what I know, as well as any leads we've come up with. I'll be looking forward to your visit." Snow shut his phone and just stared at it. Lightning was missing, possibly kidnapped. He almost felt as if he was going to get sick.

Quickly, Snow found a large backpack and shoved whatever clothes and supplies he could find in it, preparing for what could possibly be a strenuous journey. Sure, they had an air train that led straight to Oerba, but who knew where Lightning was being held? She could have been on the other side of Pulse for all he knew.

Snow paused his packing when he came across a photo of the Farron sisters on Snow and Serah's wedding day. He knew how hard it was for Lightning to come to their wedding, but she put up her best façade for Serah. The sisters had their arms around each others shoulder, Serah with a large smile on her face and Lightning with a more humble one. Snow smiled slightly at the photo and shoved it in his pocket before flying out of the room, bag in tow.

It was when he saw Serah standing in the kitchen that he face palmed - what was he going to tell Serah?

Luckily, he was able to come up with an excuse rather quickly.

"Babe, I have to leave for a while for work. They just called and they need me to do some weird assignment on Pulse and I'm not sure how long it'll take me," he said as he walked up behind her, smoothly wrapping his arms around her tiny waist. Serah set down her coffee and turned in Snow's arms, looking straight into his eyes.

"I really hate your job sometimes," she admitted with a giggle. He smiled and laughed himself. Ever since they all awoke from their crystal stasis, Snow still worked with NORA, but he found a solid job with an actual company whose work was to answer the calls of villages on Pulse if they had any wild animal problems, which most eventually did.

"It pays the bills. I'll be sure to text you, okay?" He offered, giving her a toothy grin. She smiled back and pecked him quickly on the lips.

"You better. I know how you are." Snow jokingly stuck his tongue out at her and exited the kitchen, moving straight to the garage. He opened the door, revealing the setting sun over the vast city of Palumpolem. He wasn't exactly sure why they moved from their beach getaway in Bohdum, but he did like the big city feel of Palumpolem.

Snow hopped on his hover bike, which he fondly liked to call "The Beast", and only so much as revved the engine before he saw a mass of silver hair in front of him - Hope.

"Heya Snow, where ya off to?" Over the past two years, Hope finally went through puberty and was still growing. He now stood at a healthy 6'1, but his frame was more sinewy than it was when he was fifteen. His hair was still the same unnatural silver, but now it was shorter, almost mimicking that of his father's.

Snow drove up to Hope, and placed one large paw on his shoulder. "Work business, bud."

"On Pulse? Can I come?" Hope had yet to lose his giddiness, which was something that made Snow chuckle every time. When the older man shook his hand, the silver-haired boy could barely hide his disappointment.

"This is a solo mission, Hope. Strictly classified," he said, giving him a quick wink. "I better be off before my boss yells at me. Catch ya later!" Snow revved his engine once again and peeled out of his driveway, not even noticing when the picture of Lightning and Serah flew out of his pocket.

Hope eyed the object that flew out of Snow's pocket, picking it up and examining the picture. He looked up at the dust trail Snow left behind and back down at the picture, smiling sadly at the picture of the Farron sisters. He recognized it as a picture from Snow and Serah's wedding, which he attended of course. That was also the day when Lightning left without any sort of good-bye to anybody. It was then that Hope knew what Snow was going after - the woman they both loved: Lightning.

But, neither of them knew that at that very moment, Lightning was fighting for more than her life - she was fighting for a reason to live.

* * *

**As promised, I threw in Snow's PoV, as well as some sexy time. Don't fret either - the tent scene WILL be finished! :D Also, if you want a reference to the sexy lingerie Lightning adorned during that scene, go to Deviant Art and look up "Lightning underwear".**

**And, of course, ****PLEASE REVIEW****! They seriously make my day when I see that someone has put their time and effort into reading my fic, AND time to review it! So, review! Even a simple, "Awesome, keep updating" would make me happy. ^^**

**Also, I will be giving a sneak peak at the next chapter at the end of each chapter to give you something to anticipate. So, here's the chapter three sneak! (Sneaks will always be in italics).**

"_Jeez, sis, don't have to be Queen Bitch to me." The figure appeared from the shadows, revealing a tall, burly body. His presence was overwhelming to Lightning, especially the carefree look in his sapphire eyes, and the crooked grin on his face. He even still had the same ridiculous stubble growing everywhere on his chin._

_She must have been dreaming._

"_You're not real," she mumbled, mainly to herself. There was no way in hell that he was actually real. She would have heard him walk in the door, and the last time she saw him, he would have stopped her from being rudely violated._

**Hope you enjoyed! Remember, I love reviews. :3**

**-Mel**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I feel like an awful person. D: This update was supposed to come on Thursday, and it's now Monday! Please forgive me?

On the topic of the story, due to my limited time to devote to writing and how busy (and distracted) I've been, I feel like I fell short of my normal standard for this chapter. Also, it's time! DUNDUNDUN. The story is now M! While this chapter might not warrant it entirely, I still think it's necessary, especially for upcoming chapters.

Also, please take heed: this chapter **DOES** cover some dark and cruel subjects. You all can probably tell from the previous chapter about how intense this story will get, but this chapter does increase in intensity. So, just a warning. But, do not fret - the part isn't horribly long.

I hope you enjoy! ^^

**Disclaimer: **Blah blah, I don't own Square Enix or Final Fantasy.

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Chapter Three

All she felt was pain - pain throbbing between her legs, pain on her breasts and other random places all over her body, but most of all, pain in her heart. Lightning truly felt as if she no longer had any reason to live, especially considering what little reason she had left was completely decimated not too long before. Despite the fact that her mind went to another place while she was raped, it still plagued her dreams and her thoughts. All she saw now was men terrorizing her body, fucking her senseless for their own lustful and sadistic pleasure.

Her stomach churned deep within her belly as she forced her eyes open to an empty room. She now had restraints holding her down to the cold metal table, but it wasn't like she wanted to go anywhere in her condition. One of the men had been "nice" enough to put her panties back on and drape a sheet over her body, thankfully.

Quietly, Lightning sighed. She knew the black-haired man would eventually return to orchestrate some sick tests on her, and she definitely wasn't looking forward to it. Her eyes scanned the gloomy room, noticing a small table by the wall, things ranging from scalpel's and drills scattered across it. Normally, she had no problem with knives or being cut, but the purpose behind the use of the knives bothered Lightning immensely. She didn't want to be a human test subject.

Lightning shut her eyes once again, and quietly muttered to herself, "Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim." Out of the few phrases of Latin she actually memorized, she always loved this one. It meant, _Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you._ She found it fitting in a situation like this, and in a way, it lifted her spirits slightly.

That is, until she saw a figure appear in the shadows of the room.

"God dammit, go away," she groaned, turning her head away from the figure.

"Jeez, sis, don't have to be Queen Bitch to me." The figure walked away from the shadows, revealing a tall, burly body. His presence was overwhelming to Lightning, especially the carefree look in his sapphire eyes, and the crooked grin on his face. He even had the same ridiculous stubble growing everywhere on his chin.

She must have been dreaming.

"You're not real," she mumbled, mainly to herself. There was no way in hell that he was actually real. She would have heard him walk in the door, and the last time she saw him, he would have stopped her from being raped. He sighed and shook his head, plopping down next to Lightning's feet.

"I'm rather real, I'd say. Most phantoms don't look half as good as I do," he rebuked with a cocky tone to his deep voice. Lightning shot him an ice cold glare, suddenly enraged at the fact that she couldn't move away from his presence.

"If you were real… y-you would have stopped me from being raped," she whispered. She still had yet to look at him straight in the eyes. In a way, she was being childish, but she could have cared less.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I wouldn't have been able to do anything for you, Light. Just please, look at me." Reluctantly, she turned her head and looked straight into his big, sapphire orbs with a slight grimace on her face. He smirked again.

"We're in this together, okay? You're not alone." The soothing tone of his voice actually made Lightning feel as if the end of the world wasn't going to happen. She heaved a sigh and looked straight up at the stark white ceiling.

"Thank you, Snow," she mumbled quietly. When she felt something brush against her ankle, Lightning suddenly flinched violently and unwanted images of men bruising and violating her body flooded into her mind. She looked down to see Snow, staring right at her with an apologetic look on his face. It was obvious that he was the one who touched her leg, but after her reaction, he regretted it.

"Look, I'm -" Snow stopped when the door suddenly slammed open, revealing the black-haired man and a group of scientists. Lightning turned her head to look at the man, narrowing her eyes to a slit. As if not even paying any attention to Snow's presence, the man stood right in front of him and looked down at her bruised and bloody body.

"Hmm, seems like the boys had fun with you," he remarked coolly, slowly sliding one thin finger across her bare collarbone. She flinched under his touch and had to take deep breaths to prevent herself from letting any more memories resurface. "It's so saddening, though, to see someone as beautiful as you tainted like this." Lightning didn't need to ask him to clarify - she knew exactly what he meant.

Very subtly, she inched away from his touch, but kept her eyes locked on his. "I told you, I'm not a l'Cie anymore. I have no mark," Lightning said slowly, her voice low. She was almost positive the man's henchmen would have reported to their superior and told him she had no mark whatsoever on her body. He didn't seem too convinced, though.

"No physical mark. For all we know, it could be branded… somewhere inside of you. Let's take a look, shall we?" The man's smile turned into almost a clown smile, but the kind of clown smile that made people terrified of clowns. Lightning's eyes went wide and she attempted to fight against her iron shackles. In desperation, she looked over at Snow, who merely looked hopeless.

The burly blond moved so he was standing at her head, and knelt down so he was face level with her.

"I can't do anything for you, Light… but stay strong. I'll be here for support." Before she could reply in any way, a large mouth guard was shoved into her mouth, preventing her from speaking. Lightning looked at Snow with a look of desperation in her eyes, to the point where it bordered on fear. But alas, he just knelt there, staring helplessly down at her.

To be honest, Lightning was scared as hell at that moment. It wasn't often that the pink-haired soldier found herself in times of fear, so in that moment, she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to come out the same person she was before. If anything, she might have an extensive phobia of knives, but she was hoping that was it.

She turned her head over to the group of scientists, who seemed reluctant to be conducting tests on Lightning. Despite their moral qualms, it was obvious that the black-haired man had a lot of power over them because with a few simple words, they were wheeling over the table of knives to her. Her hands clenched into fists, able to feel her nails digging into her palms from sheer force.

The black-haired man said something under his breath to the scientists, and then turned his attention back to Lightning. The sadistic smile was still present on his face.

"This might hurt _just_ a little." He made a motion to one of the men, who hesitated before grabbing a scalpel and made his way to Lightning. Her eyes were wide and her teeth clenched down on the mouth guard as much as it would allow. It was then that she realized was doing this for his own sick pleasure, hence why he wasn't supplying her with morphine or sedatives. She wanted to slap Snow for not trying to stop the men from cutting a gaping hole in her chest - why wasn't he doing anything? Wasn't he the _Hero?_

Lightning couldn't even do as much as breathe before she felt the blade pierce the skin just above the valley between her breasts. A muffled scream emitted from deep within her chest and she tried her hardest not to move beneath the sharp blade. She knew if she moved the slightest, the blade would cut deeper into her chest. It was close enough to her heart as it was – she didn't need the possibility of dying in this dump.

Pressing on, the scientist deepened the incision. Every muscle in Lightning's body by this point was so tense that some started to cramp, but she was doing everything in her power to keep up a strong act, but that couldn't keep the river of salty tears from running down her face. Never before in her life had she been in so much pain, even when Snow left her for Serah, and that had really hit home for her. Then again, most people don't get cut open while fully conscious. All she felt was the thin blade in her chest, sawing her open. She couldn't even feel her other injuries anymore.

She barely even sensed when the scalpel was extracted from the incision that the scientist made considering Lightning was feeling woozy from the loss of blood and the amount of pain she was going through. She didn't even want to think about how she looked right now, or how they planned to check for a mark inside of her body.

Quiet voices floated over to her ears, the loudest one being the black-haired man.

"What do you mean _you can't?_ We had a contract, and I can wipe you off the face of the Earth like that if you don't oblige," he hissed.

"Well, sir, to be honest, our contracts said nothing about doing work on a conscious subject. You never said she would be awake, sir."

"I don't give a fuck! Do as I say or walk out of the door and say good-bye to life as you know it." The sound of the door opening, then slamming shut rung in Lightning's ears. Some of the doctors/scientists must have left, but she could tell one or two were left. After that, she lost track of the conversation. Her head lulled to the side, fighting to keep her eyes open. The blood loss was getting to her, as was how quick she had to breathe to even feel air going in her lungs. While she didn't think it was plausible, Lightning almost wondered if the man cutting into her poked one of her lungs.

Weakly, she looked over at Snow, who was now at her side. His face was grief-stricken as he carefully reached a hand out, tracing a finger around her wound. Lightning let out a muffled moan in pain at the contact, barely even able to croak out at Snow to stop. He got the idea though and put his arm back to his side.

He gently murmured, "You can do this, Light. You're the strongest woman I know. Stay with me… Light - are you – Li-" Suddenly, her vision and hearing went in and out of focus. A thick feeling of nausea rushed over her and she quickly leaned over the side of the table the best she could and heaved up whatever was in her stomach. Lightning was barely even able to put her head back onto the metal table before blacking out once more.

* * *

It wasn't until he reached the air station in Nautilis that Snow realized he lost his picture. He beat himself up for a good ten minutes because of it. That was the only decent picture he had of Lightning, but of course he had to be the dimwit to lose it somewhere on the road. Normally, he would've gone back to look for it, but with his flight leaving in ten minutes, he didn't have the time.

He parked his car slowly into one of the prolonged parking garages, whistling as he jogged briskly to his desired station. The flight to Oerba wasn't horribly long - only about thirty minutes once they were at full speed. The difficult part was boarding and finding a spot on the transit aircraft. You see, most of these aircrafts tend to be a little cramped for people like Snow; he generally has to crouch while he looked for a seat.

The bell chimed loudly from above him, signaling that his flight was now boarding. He took long, heavy steps to the boarding platform and stood patiently in the short line. Some woman in from of the burly blond, though, was taking her sweet time retrieving her ticket. Quietly, Snow cleared his throat as if to say "Get a move on", but this woman turned around faster than he could even see.

"Excuse you, mister. That was insatiably rude," she snapped, spinning back around to continue her business. Snow just stared down at her wide-eyed, receiving a few chuckles from the people behind him. He turned his head slightly and just shrugged with a laugh himself, moving forward once the lady was out of line. Snow was out of that line within a few seconds, rolling his eyes as he scooted past the crotchety old woman, who know stopped to look for something in her luggage.

Luckily, Snow managed to get a seat fairly close to the doors of the air bus. In a way, the buses resembled a school bus, but much larger. The seats were the same style, but larger and fabric instead of leather. Due to his size, Snow usually ended up taking a whole seat to himself. Never again would he sit next to someone in one of those seats; last time he did, he had leg cramps for a week.

People slowly filtered onto the bus one by one. The old woman gave Snow a look as she passed by him, most likely pissed that he took one of the close seats. He honestly could have cared less, though. The bus took off once it was filled to capacity, and before he really knew it, they were landing in a small place outside of Oerba.

Shoving his way past others, Snow ended up being the first one off the bus. He stretched out his long legs with a yawn and took in his surroundings. A strong sense of déjà vu overwhelmed him as he took in the sights of Gran Pulse once again. He honestly didn't think he'd end up back at the place where he fell in love with Lightning. It was almost surreal in a way.

He lugged his bag over his shoulder and looked at his surroundings; it seemed to him as if he was in Taejin's Tower, which was now a glorified airport. Snow chuckled to himself as he walked by multiple food stands, merchandise stands, and even chocobo stands. He remembered when this place was overrun by a fal'Cie and you had to go through a maze to even get to the top. Now, though, it was as simple as pressing a button on the elevator and he was taken to the top floor.

One thing they didn't move was the transporter to Oerba. The ancient looking ball stood still in its resting spot, and it looked as if Snow and his group were the last ones to use it. He figured not many people went to Oerba considering it was a military base at that moment.

Nevertheless, Snow hopped in and was taken straight to the outskirts of Oerba. One vast difference he noticed was the lack of the white dust everywhere. With that gone, the true beauty of the village shone - plants and trees sprouted from every crevice of the earth, all multitudes of colors. He looked in awe at his surroundings as he walked the short distance to the village entrance, where a soldier stood waiting.

Immediately, the soldier halts Snow with his hand raised. "Stop. What is your clearance?"

"Um…" Snow had to pause to think of something, "General Mindra summoned me here," he blurted out. It seemed as if it worked because the solider got right out of Snow's way. He smirked and walked straight to the General's office, which was right near the entrance of the camp.

Slowly, he poked his head into the office as he knocked at the same time. The red head looked up from his paperwork to see who knocked, a confused expression crossing his face when he seemingly didn't recognize the blond. Snow let himself into the room completely, removing his bandana out of respect at the same time.

"Excuse me sir, my name is Snow Villiers. You told me to stop by once I arrived?" Mindra stood from his desk as soon as Snow mentioned his name. He walked over to the large blond and stuck his hand out.

"General Samuel Mindra. Please, take a seat." Snow did as he was asked as Mindra continued, "We did some extensive investigations of Lieutenant Farron's housing unit, and we concluded that someone broke in and most likely kidnapped her. Farron always locked her unit tight, and there was definitely forceful entry. We also found vehicle remains in the form of tire tracks near her unit," he explained, pacing around in front of his desk. It read in his face that he was worried, yet aggravated.

"Do you mind if I take a look at her house before I leave?" Snow asked, standing out of his seat. He heard a quiet sigh come from Mindra as he sat down in his chair.

"Go right ahead; we've gotten all we needed from there." With that, the blond made haste out of the room and straight to Lightning's home, which was sitting by itself in one of the corners of town. The door was already open to the small shack, allowing Snow to enter easily.

For the most part, Lightning's living quarter was rather tidy. Besides the fact that someone recently broke in and kidnapped her, everything looked to be in its rightful spot. There wasn't even as much as a dirty dish in her kitchen sink, or trash in her trash can.

Snow meandered a little around her house, smiling to himself as he came across the same picture he had lost back in Palumpolem. For safe keeping, he extracted it from its frame and put it in the breast pocket of his jacket, also coming across her blade. He grabbed the surprisingly light gun blade, laughing to himself as he played around with the blade. He could see why Lightning liked it so much, but he still preferred hand-to-hand combat.

The main thing that caught his eye, though, was a small box sitting atop the nightstand next to Lightning's bed. Curiously, Snow grabbed the small wooden box and opened it, revealing some sort of charm shaped like a lightning bolt. He then realized that this was the gift he saw Fang and Vanille give Lightning right before they came back to Cocoon.

Swiftly, he placed the charm back inside of the box and tucked it tight into his breast pocket, where the photo still was. He was half way out of the front door when he saw something red on the door frame. Carefully, he extended his index finger out and touched it, grimacing slightly when then sticky liquid stuck to his finger. It was definitely blood.

Snow flew out of the door, moving right towards presumably Lightning's motorcycle. He sighed in relief when then keys were still in the ignition, and without any more thought, he peeled out of Oerba as he followed the tire tracks that Lightning's assailants left behind.

To be honest, Snow wasn't sure what to expect from his journey. It could end up being something as stupid as her friends pulling a prank, or Lightning could be in actual grave danger. He hoped it wasn't the latter, because that would mean he had little time to reach her before she met her end.

* * *

**Whee! This took too long to get done. _ I hope the next update to be later this week... but don't kill me if it's not. :3**

**Without further ado, here is the Chapter Four sneak peek:**

**_"_**_Tell me where she is!" He roared, slamming the much smaller man against the grainy brick walls. The man groaned in pain, coughing up an abnormally large amount of blood. Snow cringed when some dripped onto his boots, but he had bigger things to worry about than getting his shoes dirty._

_"I-I don't know! I swear! I'm just a bodyguard. H-Here - this is the keycard to get inside. P-Please, just don't kill me; I-I have a family," the man begged, cowering against the prowess of the large man pinning him to the wall. With a grunt, Snow threw the man to the ground as if he were a ragdoll. He snatched the keycard from him and went into the dark building, squinting when lights flashed on above him. A multitude of hallways surrounded him, and with Snow being himself, he went into the one straight ahead of him._

_Using his shoulder, he forced the door open, leading him into an empty lab room. The room was small, at best, but what caught his attention was the blood-covered table._

"Oh, no,"_ Snow mumbled to himself. Was he too late?_

**Yes, I'm aware I'm evil. It's a trait I'm good at. :D**

******Anyways... PLEASE REVIEW! All the reviews I got for Chapter Two made me SOSOSOSO happy, guys! =D I'd like to see more!**

**-Mel**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Yes, I am aware this chapter is horribly late. I feel so bad about that, but I do have an excuse - I've been so busy with this writing camp I did this week, but it's finally over, so hopefully I can get more updates in sooner!

All things aside, because I was trying to push this chapter out, I do feel like it can be a little rushed and not my best quality, but I do hope you guys still enjoy it! ^^

* * *

Chapter Four

Lightning's head was spinning as she opened her eyes slowly, only to find herself in a dinky closet with just a cot, a sink, and a small mirror. Her head was lying on the lumpy, itchy pillow and the rest of her body laying flat on the ratty cot. Her muscles were stiff, but when she made the attempt to move, her whole body protested in pain.

She bit down on her bottom lip and in one swift move swung her legs over the side of the bed. A quiet groan escaped her lips when she could feel the throbbing pain deep within her. It was almost as if there wasn't a spot on her body didn't that hurt, including the pounding migraine she now possessed.

Lightning continued to move, this time taking it a step further by standing. Her legs wobbled in warning, as if to say "Just lay back down and rest", but she was stubborn. There was no way she would let this place tear her down – not completely, at least. She dragged herself to the mirror adjacent to her cot, grimacing at how bad she looked. Caked blood covered her face and her hair, and she had more bruises than a boxer did after a match. She reluctantly looked down at her chest, which now had a very botched stitching job extending from between her collarbones and just above her breasts, and of course more bruises. She started to figure that her whole body was bruised and bloody, which wouldn't be too much of an understatement considering what she went through.

She eyeballed the sink out of the corner of her eye and slowly dragged herself to it. Figuring the water would be rusty, she turned on the hot water and let it run, cringing when brown water first came out of it. Once the water ran clear, Lightning cupped some of the now scorching hot water into her hands and splashed it on her face. She hissed quietly as the hot water hit her skin and touched some of her injuries, but she pressed on and ignored the pain.

Biting down on her lip, Lightning slowly removed the hospital dress they had put her in, and continued with washing the thick, caked on blood from her chest. A quiet cry of pain escaped her lips when the water ran over her chest wound, and almost worse down near her pelvis. Though pain throbbed everywhere on her body, she did feel cleaner once she removed all the blood that she could.

She didn't even bother to dry off before throwing back on her hospital gown, not even wincing this time as she put it on. The pain was starting to numb, which was something she was insatiably thankful for.

Lightning went to go lay back down on her bed, but when she spun around to see Snow laying there; she grumbled a sigh and turned back around.

"Why are you on my bed? It's not like you even fit on it, anyways." Snow looked down at himself, laughing when he eventually noticed how his calves weren't even on the bed at all. He hopped off of the bed and walked over to the ever skulking Lightning, smirking when she inched away from him again.

"Light, I thought we came to a mutual agreement – that I'm here for you?"

"Yes, we did, but I'm done making excuses for you. If you're actually real, you should have done anything in your power to stop me from becoming a human lab rat," she snapped, spinning around and glaring right at him. It was hard to make out the details of his face in the dimly lighted closet, so she couldn't tell if he was frowning or smirking.

"I already told you – I couldn't do anything for you!" He rebuked, crossing his arms over his broad chest in a defensive stance. Lightning closed the space between him so she could almost feel his breath on her, but she oddly felt nothing.

"But you could have _tried!_ You're the 'hero', aren't you? Don't you save people?" As Lightning spoke, her voice verged on the point of hysterical and she barely even noticed when tears rimmed her eyes. Snow frowned when he saw the tears now running down her face.

He attempted to reach his hand out to stroke her cheek, but she backed away from his touch and turned her back to him. She was done with all of his silly games. It was time she faced her fate: torture for the rest of her life.

"C'mon, Light. Please… don't be like this," he pleaded, putting his hand on her shoulder. Goosebumps rushed over her skin from the surprisingly light touch he placed on her; it was almost like air.

In one quick move, Lightning spun around and went to smack him, but when her fingers were to collide with his cheek, she hit thin air. A strangled gasp spilled from her lips as she came to a sad realization – Snow wasn't real. This was all some sick joke her mind was creating so she wouldn't feel like she was alone.

How could she have been so stupid? How could she have thought that Snow, her sister's husband, would come to save _her?_ It wasn't like he loved her. Not even her fake Snow loved her enough to save her from her inevitable fate.

Coldly, she muttered, "Leave."

"Look, Claire-"

"Just leave!" She screamed, pushing against his apparition, even though she knew he wasn't real. It disappeared into thin air, leaving Lightning alone with herself.

Instinctually, she wrapped her arms around her chest in a sort of defensive stance, and meandered back over to her bed. She laid down and pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them so they would stay in the fetus position. She felt empty now. Lightning had finally decided to accept that no one was coming to save her, especially Snow, and that she would be stuck here for the rest of her life. Sure, it was morbid, but the whole situation was morbid and didn't help her mood the slightest.

A quiet voice floated into her ears, presumably from an intercom out in the hall, but it was too muffled from the walls, so she couldn't comprehend what was being said. It also didn't help that she was dozing off, this time into a voluntary sleep as compared to the exhaustion induced or blood-loss induced sleep she had been used to.

Consciousness slipped in and out of Lightning's grasp as she could feel things happening around her, but her eyes seemed glued shut. She distinctly remembered being moved from her bed and tied to a chair, but what she recalled most was this:

"We have an intruder. Bring him right to us." Who would want to intrude in this hell hole? She suddenly thought that it could be someone there to save her, but that thought was soon eradicated from her head. No one was coming to save her – she was a complete fool for even thinking like that! In the back of her mind, she knew that she would end up being here for the rest of her life.

* * *

Much to his surprise, Snow found that the tire tracks on the ground led him to a facility that resembled a hospital only ten miles outside of Oerba. He figured it to be someplace out in the boonies, but he did have to admit – this place was well hidden. It was shaded by a mountain overpass and overgrown shrubs hid much of the front of the building.

Quietly, Snow parked the motorcycle far enough away from the entrance to where he couldn't be heard. The engine of that cycle definitely wasn't quiet. Unlike in Oerba Proper, the powdery dust still lingered in the air and on the ground. Some got in his nose, and sub sequentially made him sneeze. He froze seconds later, listening carefully to make sure no one heard his obnoxious sneeze.

He sprinted towards the building, quickly knocking out anyone patrolling the woods outside of the building. It was when he was faced with a small man holding a gun that he skidded to a stop. Although it was extremely apparent that the man was absolutely terrified of the colossal blonde towering over him, Snow really didn't want to get shot.

"What are you doing here?" The man squeaked.

"Just put down the gun and no one will get hurt. I just want to get inside," Snow schmoozed, putting his hands up, but walking slowly towards the guy. He shied away further from Snow.

"Y-You can't. I-I have the only key card inside."

"Do you remember if anyone has been taken into this building against their will?" The man's hands shook as he lowered his gun, but only slightly.

"I-I can't share that information with you-" Without warning, Snow growled and took the scrawny man's collar into his hands and picked him up so he was eyelevel.

**"**Tell me where she is!" He roared, slamming the much smaller man against the grainy brick walls. The man groaned in pain, coughing up an abnormally large amount of blood. Snow cringed when some dripped onto his boots, but he had bigger things to worry about than getting his shoes dirty.

"I-I don't know! I swear! I'm just a bodyguard. H-Here - this is the keycard to get inside. P-Please, just don't kill me; I-I have a family," the man begged, cowering against the prowess of the large man pinning him to the wall. With a grunt, Snow threw the man to the ground as if he were a ragdoll. He snatched the keycard from him and went into the dark building, squinting when lights flashed on above him. A multitude of hallways surrounded him, and with Snow being himself, he went into the one straight ahead of him.

Using his shoulder, he forced the door open, leading him into an empty lab room. The room was small, at best, but what caught his attention was the blood-covered table.

"Oh_, no_," Snow mumbled to himself. Was he too late? He walked up to the metal slab, trying to see if there was anything else that would blatantly tell him Lightning was alright. Sadly, there was nothing.

He exited the room back into the main hall, sighing when he looked at the ten plus doors that surrounded him. Suddenly, he heard quiet voices to his right and a random light flashed on above one of the doors that read "Customer Service". Snow took this as a sign and charged to the door, but he slid to a stop when he realized it might be a trap.

Slowly, Snow inched the door open, but was careful to make sure he made no noise. If there was anybody in the room, he sure didn't want to alert them. He couldn't hide the frown when he heard nothing coming from the room and almost shut the door, but the sound of a quiet groan made him freeze.

Without another thought, he barged into the room to see a semi-conscious Lightning tied to a chair in the center of the room. He rushed over to her, silently gasping to himself as he noticed how injured she was. Her face was swollen, especially her lips. Snow didn't even want to think about what happened to her and what the rest of her body looked like.

He gently stroked her coarse pink hair, trying to soothe her awake. He wouldn't have even noticed her eyes opening if it weren't for the grunt she made.

"Light? Claire, can you hear me?" Snow asked, his voice quiet yet demanding. He looked straight into her sea blue pools, which mirrored apprehension and fear.

"Go away," she muttered in a small voice. It almost was as if she didn't mean it.

Stubbornly, he shook his head, "I'm not going anywhere – not this time." Lightning began to squirm beneath him, only then realizing she was tied to the chair. Snow noticed this and tried to untie her, but she was locked to the chair. She kept staring at him with a cautious look in her eyes as she wriggled in her chains, trying to move away from his powerful presence. Did he smell bad or something? That was the second time within an hour that people shied away from him.

"I told you once all ready to go away. I thought you got the message." He cocked his head curiously at her.

"Yeah, I know you told me to stay away from you because you don't want to betray Serah, but I think we really should talk about all of that… well, after I _save_ you from this hell hole," he rambled. Lightning's face, only for a moment, marred hope, but that was gone quicker than a bolt of lightning striking the ground.

"Just… just go away. You're not real," she seethed. It seemed as if she was still trying to convince herself of this fact more than Snow. Now he was really confused.

He moved closer to her weak body, which shook every so often from the pure strength it probably took just to move. Daringly, he gently placed his hand on her bicep, and he felt the rather violent shudder beneath his palm. Obviously something traumatizing involving intimate touch had happened to Lightning.

A part of Snow wondered if Lightning had hallucinations of him while she was here, but then again, why would she? It wasn't like she was blindingly in love with him like he was with her.

Slowly, he slid his paw down to her arm and gently squeezed her hand through the handcuffs. Since her hands were cuffed in front of her, he was able to take both hands and gently place them on his chest above his heart. Lightning seemed shocked that she could actually physically touch Snow.

"_This_ - this is real Claire. This is a beating heart, and it beats for you," he muttered, bringing her body closer to his own.

Suddenly, it seemed as if realization hit Lightning. Tears started sliding relentlessly from her tear ducts and quiet sobs racked her exhausted body, and she unconsciously curled into his sturdy form. Snow protectively wrapped his arms around her body, slowly rocking her back in forth in a soothing motion. He would let her take as long as she needed to break down before he made his confession – this was all about her.

In the two years that passed since Snow last saw Lightning, he noticed that besides the injuries she sustained, she seemed tired. Not in the sense where she needed sleep, but tired of life and its doings. A lot of those emotions were no longer present in her body language and face as she breathed in Snow's clean scent that was distinctly his.

Gently, he nudged his finger under chin and made her look at him. Instead of fear, Lightning's eyes now held hope and love, something that made Snow's heart leap inside of his chest. Before she could even think of protesting, he leaned his head down and connected his lips with hers. He expected her to be surprised – to even push him off – but she happily accepted his affection and kissed him back.

Oh, to kiss her sweet lips again. It was light a long awaited reunion that never seemed to happen, but when it did, it was sweet bliss. Despite the lingering taste of blood on her tongue, Snow reveled in the taste of the woman he loved and would love for the rest of his life. No one could ever replicate the feeling Lightning gave him just from being around her.

His mind nearly blanked when he felt her hands roam over her chest as she simultaneously slid her tongue into his mouth. The pleasure was short lived, however, when she suddenly broke away from the kiss.

"Wha-"

"W-We can't do this here." Lightning was breathless.

Without another word, Snow blurted out, "I love you, Claire." She froze in her spot and said nothing for the longest time. It made him fear that she didn't share his feelings and that he would look like an idiot. Lightning twiddled her fingers in the cuffs a little bit before leaning up, kissing Snow once again, but this time the kiss was sweet – loving.

She pulled away and muttered lightly, "I love you too. You have no idea." Snow swore he felt his heart leap in his chest in joy. He took her hands in his and turned his head a little to look at the door, almost silently telling her they had to leave.

Snow cursed to himself as he tried in vain to remove her leg shackles, which were the only thing tying her down to the metal chair she was attached to. He looked around for anything he could pick the lock with, but this room was as barren as a desert except for the pair in the center of the room.

The door of the room suddenly opened, revealing three men, one of which who wore a mask over his head. The two without a mask slid over to Lightning, who suddenly became terrified and fought furiously against her restraints.

"Not today, sis." The thinner of the two pulled out a needle and shoved it into her arm, causing her to squeal before she slumped in her chair, unconscious. Snow was suddenly enraged and stood up from his seated position. He charged at both men, and before he knew it, both of them were laying unconscious on the floor, both bleeding profusely everywhere on their faces.

A slow clap came from the man in the mask as he walked further into the room, a quiet chuckle accenting it. He slowly removed the mask from his head and smiled, making Snow gasp. He recognized this man's face…

"Welcome, Mr. Villiers – we've been expecting you." Snow couldn't believe it – this man was _Bartholomew Estheim._

**A/N: **Yeah, I know this ending is a bit of a doozy. That's just how I roll, though. :D

Anyways, the next chapter is going to be solely from Snow's point of view, so it might be shorter than others, but then again it could be longer! We just will have to see!

Here is your Chapter Five sneak:

_Heat licked the heels of his boots as he made a bull rush out of the rapidly collapsing building, not phased by the hallucinating and semi-conscious Lightning in his arms, but more phased by the peril of being smothered alive by burning dry wall and suffocation. The sound of ceiling collapsing right behind him made him run faster, and only made Lightning wimper louder. She was going on now about how the fire was singeing her wounds and that the men were coming back for her. Snow knew now wasn't time for questions, but he honestly wondered what type of shit she went through._

_In one quick move, Snow skidded out of the building right as the last of it collapsed behind them. He heaved out a huge sigh of exhaustion and relief as he collapsed on his knees. Heavy coughs racked his lungs from the smoke, and his breathing was labored as well. He reminded himself that next time he walked into a burning building that he needed a gas mask. _

_He turned his attention to Lightning, who was now convulsing violently and freaking out at every sound she heard. He gently placed his hand on her cheek and made her look at him._

_"Claire, calm down. It's all over... it's all over," he cooed, but the drugs they injected her with protested._

_"No! No, they're coming after me! They-they want to finish what they started! Those men - they want to touch me again," she blubbered, talking so fast that Snow almost didn't understand her. Unluckily for himself, he definitely did._

I hope you enjoyed! Remember, **REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW! **You guys know how much I love reviews, so just do itttttttt!

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **It's been... what, a month since I've updated? I feel horrible about that, but I must admit - I haven't had much motiviation to write, what with school and the lack of reviews I got for Chapter Four. I don't mean to sound kind of prudish, but reviews really do make my day. When I see one, it makes me want to write more for those people who take a minute out of their day to even simply write, "Please continue!".

Anyways, to compensate for how short Chapter Four was and how late I am, this chapter is a bit longer than the others. Also, most of this chapter is from Snow's PoV. I do hope you enjoy! :D

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Snow turned slowly to look at the man, who called himself Hope's father, in the eyes. The only time he met Bartholomew face to face, he got the impression that this was man who was trying his best to connect with his distant son. He never would have guessed that he was sadistic and cruel, especially to the point of torturing someone he knew and who knew his son well. People sometimes do change, but not always for the better it seemed.

He cockily cracked his knuckles before doing his signature fist-to-palm move. Bartholomew stood tall in front of him, a tiny smile on his face. He still wore glasses, but the biggest difference was the slicked jet black hair on his head. But, beneath his smooth demeanor, Snow could tell he was a bit terrified of the bold blond walking up to him.

Before Snow could pummel him, Bartholomew simply stuck out his hand, stopping Snow from walking any further.

"Not so fast, Mr. Villiers. Don't you want to know why I've done all of this before you break me in half?" _He did have a point_, Snow thought.

"Might wanna tell me fast – my patience is low today," he snapped, walking straight into Bartholomew's hand so he knew how impatient he was. Snow smirked to himself when the older man swallowed hard.

"You see, Snow, the day you and your little group came to my house and told me you all were l'Cie, and then sub sequentially, I was wanted for harboring fugitives. Sure, at the time I had no problem with it, but after I was arrested and nearly put away for life, I changed my mind. l'Cie are corrupt, ignorant, and selfish. They're not to be trusted, Mr. Villiers. They are enemies of the state. Join me, and help me eradicate them, starting with Ms. Farron here, then my son," Bartholomew said. He paced as he spoke, but once he was done, he looked Snow straight in the eyes. Snow felt strangely unmoved by his passionate speech, and merely shrugged it off.

He walked closer to the man, and before Bartholomew could do anything, Snow clenched his hand around his throat and thrust him against the wall.

"Too bad for you because you're going to die before you can see your dream begin. Don't you get it? None of us are l'Cie anymore, especially your son. He loves you to death, but you're so blinded by your own hatred that you can't see that. I'd rather see you rot in hell than any of us getting killed by you," Snow seethed, tightening his grip. Bartholomew gurgled as he tried to get air, but the paw around his throat inhibited him from doing so.

"Yes… you will be seeing me in hell, because you'll be joining me." Without any warning, a distant _boom_ reached Snow's ears. He looked down to see a trigger in Bartholomew's hands. He growled and bashed his head into the wall, rendering him unconscious. He dropped his limp and bleeding body and rushed over to Lightning, using every bit of his raw strength to tear the shackles off her legs before scooping her up into his arms and rushing out of the room.

Lightning slowly came to consciousness as Snow ran out of the room, panicking when another ear shattering boom rang in her ears. Everything in her vision was distorted and she even swore she saw a pack of men rushing after her. She frantically tugged on Snow's jacket, making him look down at her.

"They-they're coming after me!" She screamed. Snow turned his head to look behind them, but there was nothing but rapidly falling ceiling. With another loud boom, the ceiling right behind them fell and fire shot up from the thick dry wall.

"Shit," he muttered, "Hold on." He took in a large breath to avoid breathing in any smoke and kicked the door down that lead to the hallway before taking off again.

Heat licked the heels of his boots as he made a bull rush out of the rapidly collapsing building, not fazed by the hallucinating and semi-conscious Lightning in his arms, but more fazed by the peril of being smothered alive by burning dry wall and suffocation. The sound of ceiling collapsing right behind him made him run faster and only made Lightning whimper louder. She was going on now about how the fire was singeing her wounds and that the men were coming back for her. Snow knew now wasn't time for questions, but he honestly wondered what type of shit she went through.

In one quick move, Snow skidded out of the building right as the last of it collapsed behind them. He heaved out a huge sigh of exhaustion and relief as he collapsed on his knees. Heavy coughs racked his lungs from the smoke, and his breathing was labored as well. He reminded himself that next time he walked into a burning building that he needed a gas mask.

He turned his attention to Lightning, who was now convulsing violently and freaking out at every sound she heard. He gently placed his hand on her cheek and made her look at him.

"Claire, calm down. It's all over... it's all over," he cooed, but the drugs they injected her with protested.

"No! No, they're coming after me! They-they want to finish what they started! Those men - they want to touch me again," she blubbered, talking so fast that Snow almost didn't understand her. Unluckily for himself, he definitely did.

Gently, he placed his hand on her cheek and looked her right in the eyes. It was now that he noticed the true extent of her injuries. Her right eye was completely shut from the bruising, and the left one only part way. Pretty much her whole face was swollen, including her lips, and she had a few gashes on her cheeks. He used one of his hands to carefully push down her hospital gown, but was met by protest. He used his strength to hold Lightning still, and gasped in horror when he saw the botched incision down half her chest.

It wasn't a pretty wound. Blood stained the area around it, and her skin even seemed purplish. It almost looked infected, which wasn't good for either of them.

Slowly, Snow tore himself away from the wound and pulled the flimsy gown back up her chest. Her skin scorched his skin when he brushed against it, causing him to frown as he stood off of his knees. Knowing his luck, she was running a hell of a fever. Lightning quietly grunted as she wrapped her arms securely around Snow's neck. She mumbled something in his ear about how everything was spinning and how nauseated she felt.

With haste, he made way back to the motorcycle. He position Lightning so that she was straddling his hips as he position himself on the machine. Her grip on his neck loosened slightly, and then he noticed she was unconscious again. Snow sighed to himself and revved up the engine, keeping one arm protectively around her waist as he drove off.

They reached Oerba within minutes due to Snow's almost dangerously fast driving. He slid right past border patrol by flipping them off and made a bee line to Lightning's housing unit. As soon as he parked and turned off the engine, he flew into the house, slamming the door behind them. He gently laid her down on the bed and sighed. Should he invade her privacy and take off the dress so he could see her injuries, or wait until she regained consciousness and let her do it?

Snow went with his first thought, but instead of just ripping off the gown, he left her house and went straight to General Mindra's office. He banged noisily on the door, and he could hear muffled voices approach him.

The door opened to reveal Mindra, as well as some other soldiers. The soldier who opened the door was tall and buff, but nowhere near the extent as Snow.

"Can I help you, sir? We're a bit-"

"Corporal, let him through," Mindra butted in. Snow saw the red head stand from his desk, hands folded behind his back. "Soldiers, exit the room please. I need a moment with him." They did as told; they exited the room without a peep or hesitation. Mindra began to motion Snow to sit down, but he interrupted him.

"No time for sitting, sir. I've found Lightning and I need your help. I want only you involved in this – she looks like she went through some pretty traumatic stuff where she was and I don't think she'll be comfortable to know people she was unfamiliar with stitched her up," he blurted, his voice low and rapid, "Now, I have experience with medical stuff. If you give me supplies, I'm sure I can fix her up to the best of my ability, and if you want, you can bring a medic to watch over."

Mindra walked over to the door and sighed, "Of course, Mr. Villiers. I know how the Lieutenant can be, so I will allow this of you. Since I am a doctor-in-training, I will accompany you. The medical supplies you need will be in the closet to your right." Snow flung the door open, retrieving the enormous box of supplies with ease. Mindra held the door open for him and they made way back to Lightning.

Snow set the box down next to the bed, where Lightning was still unconscious. Her body was so still that Snow for a second feared she was dead, but the haphazard rise of her chest proved otherwise.

"Oh, dear…" Mindra groaned as he took a good look at his soldier.

"That's not even all of it," Snow mumbled. He slid over to Lightning and began to carefully take the flimsy gown off of her sweaty body. He started by untying the ties in the back, and he slowly slid it down her body. He turned around to give Mindra a look right before he slid it over her breasts. The older man took the point and turned around to give her the privacy she deserved.

Surprisingly, Snow was met with no resistance from Lightning the entire time he removed the cloth. But, what was underneath the cover made him wish he never took it off at all.

He swiftly rummaged through her drawers and retrieved a bra, expertly putting it on her so that Mindra could finally look at her bruised and beaten body.

"You can look now," he said, his voice weak. Mindra barely had time to turn around before a strangled gasp came out of his mouth.

"Oh, Farron…" he murmured as he knelt down next to the bed beside Snow. "Injuries are extensive, probably to the point of internal bleeding in the abdominals. The incision on her chest is less than one millimeter deep, which is lucky for us, but we need to clean and stitch it before it gets infected. Other injuries suggest she was… raped." He nearly had to choke out that word – the word neither of them wanted to hear. Mindra softly grazed his hand over Lightning's almost nude body, cringing when he felt her squirm beneath his touch.

"She had a broken rib on her right side…" he trailed off as he reached her face, "and a broken nose. Besides that, it's just intense bruising that could last for weeks." Snow slumped down to the ground, feeling defeated. He felt like a failure for letting this happen to her, even though the rational part of him knew he could have done nothing to prevent it, besides abandoning her for Serah.

_Serah…_ he thought. He mentally face-palmed himself when he thought of his wife. How was he supposed to tell her that her older sister was raped and nearly killed? This was news he never wanted to tell anyone, especially the wife he wished was Lightning. Snow barely heard when Mindra spoke to him until a heavy nudge made him fall back on his butt.

"Villiers, I need the box," Mindra commanded. Snow pushed the large box next to the General, and he opened the wooden box, pulling basically everything out of it. He stood over to the side as he watched Mindra move like a pro as he cleaned and stitched Lightning up. The strangled noises she made worried Snow, but she made no notion that said she was awake. Whatever drugs they pumped her with must have been strong enough to inhibit her from waking up while being operated on.

"Snow, quickly inject her with this - it's morphine. I don't want to run the risk of her waking up from the pain." He did as he was told and carefully injected the medicine into her arm. She flinched a little under his touch, making him freeze, but she went still again moments later.

"Is she going to be okay?" Snow asked, uncertainty lacing the tone of his voice.

"Eventually, yes. It might take weeks for her to fully heal, but I'm not sure she'll ever heal fully mentally… no one really does after being tortured. Farron is a strong girl – I know she's going to try and push off her insecurities, but you need to help her not do that. I trust that when you take her home that you'll take good care of her…" Mindra trailed off after he noticed the the glimmering gold band adorning Snow's left hand. The blond knew the older man was judging him in that moment, but his top priority was Lightning – not someone's personal beliefs.

Snow paused, though, when he realized really what Mindra said. "You're letting her off duty?"

"It's the thing to do. It would be cruel of me to keep her here after that. I just ask of you that she doesn't get into any trouble," he requested, his voice somber.

"Of course, sir. I won't ever let anything like this happen again."

"Go do something, or sleep even – you seem tired. This could take a little while since I don't want to make a mistake." Snow took head to Mindra's warning and scanned the small shack for a couch. What he saw made him frown slightly, but there was nothing better for him to do.

He laid down on the couch, most of his calves hanging off the edge. He just laughed it off before sighing. Every once and a while, he heard the quiet clanging of Mindra's medical tools, and Snow could only wonder what he was doing. To be honest, he was scared to death that Lightning would die or she would shun him when she woke up. Who's to say that she would even remember him coming to rescue her, or his declaration of love – and even her own.

Snow drifted off to sleep with those thoughts on his mind, and it only seemed like moments later when he felt a quick nudge on his shoulder. He jolted awake, almost knocking over the person who poked him, but he shot his hand out to steady them before they could fall. He wiped the sleep out of his eyes to see Mindra, who had the box set down next to him, and gave the red head a curious look.

He was interrupted before he could speak, "Now, before you go and ask how she is, she's doing fine. She should be awake in a couple of hours. I only had one complication and that was getting to successfully stop her internal bleeding, but I did manage to get with no harm caused. If you have any problems before you depart, please come see me." Without another word, Mindra picked up the box and was out of the house. Snow watched as he left, and was gracious enough to shut the door behind him since his arms with full with the medical boss.

The sound of Lightning's uneven breathing brought him over to her bed, where she rested all stitched up. She had a nose strip over the bridge of her nose and bandage tape over much of her abdomen. A thin sheet of sweat glazed over her skin, and it didn't help that Mindra covered her in a blanket.

Snow carefully slid off the rather thick blanket, leaving her in her bra and panties. He reached up and opened the window above her head, introducing a cool breeze into the room. He himself breathed in the fresh air; man, did he miss that smell. It was times like these that he wished he was still on his conquest to fulfill his focus – times when they wandered around Pulse, breathing in the unpolluted air and staring into the starry sky. In fact, he hadn't felt as calm as he did in those weeks since they finished their journey and embarked home to Cocoon.

Lightning stirred lightly below him, causing Snow to look down quickly, but he smiled to himself to see she was still asleep. Even through the gauze, the bruises, and the scars, she was the most beautiful thing on the planet to him. He didn't care about how beaten she looked – to him, there was nothing that could surpass her. Sure, most people would think he was insane for thinking that a bruised woman was beautiful, but those people were ignorant and didn't know the true beauty of Claire Averia Farron.

But, why couldn't he think of Serah like that? Why couldn't he see his _wife_ as the most spectacular sight in the world? Snow felt selfish to think of her older sister in such a manner with no absolute regard for the one he shared his vows with. It wasn't like Serah wasn't beautiful – she was – but she wasn't her sister, and Snow wished things had happened differently.

He knew he would have to tell her eventually about his feelings, but he wasn't sure when he wanted to, or when he even could. Lightning would probably kill him for causing such pain to her baby sister, but what's life without turmoil? Nothing.

Snow took himself and his thoughts out of the house completely and into Lightning's modest backyard, where two chairs sat with a table between them. He lounged back in the chair and stared off into the starry abyss, just taking in the sights. That sense of overwhelming calm flooded over him, forcing him to smile to himself. He missed this, oh boy did he. The air wafted into his nose, bringing the familiar scent of Oerban native flowers, ones Vanille often gushed over.

Nothing interrupted the silence in the night, not even a bird or the sound of a soldier snoring, and Snow was thankful for that. He just sat; sat and stared off into the sky.

* * *

The sight of billions of stars twinkling in the black sky filled her vision as she forced her eyes open as much as they would go, only able to fully open the right one. Her limbs felt wobbly and almost like jelly, but oddly enough, the pain she felt was bearable.

As she swung her long legs over the side of her bed, she suddenly wondered how she got home.

"Think, Light, think," she muttered to herself. The last thing she recalled was… seeing Snow. No, that couldn't be possible. Why would he come for her? That's when it all came rushing back: his confession of love, their shared moment of brief passion, and everything blacking out again. But, if he loved her, then where was he?

Lightning stood off of her bed the best that she could, her legs threatening to give out under her weight. It was only then that she noticed the stiches and bandage over her body. Someone had obviously tended to her while she was unconscious – someone who knew her well enough to know she wouldn't want to go to a hospital.

She grabbed the silk robe sitting idly next to her bed and somehow managed to force it on despite her muscles protesting it. However, she couldn't tie it shut, so it was simply left open.

She grasped the walls as she walked around her house. Snow's distinct musk lingered around the house, but he was no where to be seen. His scent trailed off near the door, so she presumed he went outside. Lightning slipped her feet into her slippers next to the door before dragging herself out of the door.

The night was cool and the cold breeze on her heated skin felt heavenly. In the dim light given off by the stars, she spotted Snow staring off into the night sitting in one of the chairs on her deck. He looked completely at ease, none of the worry or concern weighing him down that she previously saw him with.

Not wanting to disturb him, she gently leaned against the walls of her house for support and watched him. She watched the slow, but rhythmic rise and fall of his broad chest, the way he would stifle a yawn whenever one threatened to come up, and the way he would sometimes smile unconsciously.

Snow jolted to attention though when Lightning suddenly sneezed. He leapt out of his chair, unsure of what the noise was at first, but once his eyes landed on the rose haired beauty before him, tension just fell from his shoulders.

"Don't scare me like that…" While he didn't initially mean it, that statement was a double-edged sword. He meant it both with the sneeze and being in a comatose-like state for almost a whole damn day. He gently extended a hand to brush away a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. Lightning caught what he meant after a few moments of silence, and she silently grabbed his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "but I'm alive; isn't that something?"

Snow chuckled despite himself, "Yeah, I suppose it is." He offered a calm smile to her before examining her body. A silken navy robe covered her arms and back, but since it wasn't tied, her whole front was exposed. It was because of this that he noticed the slight tremor Lightning's muscles gave.

Gently, he wrapped his free arm around her torso for support and kept the other one locked with hers.

"C'mon, let's go back inside," he said as he began walking, pretty much supporting all of Lightning's weight at this point. She just leaned on him, absolutely no energy to even attempt to walk by herself anymore. Getting outside must have drained her of the little energy she had.

Once they were inside, Snow set Lightning down on the couch and made a bee line to her fridge. It was his presumption that she probably hadn't eaten in days, which of course didn't help with her fatigue. But, the only thing in her fridge was a carton of half empty eggs, leftover Chinese, a bottle of water, and bread. Either Light had become anorexic or she was running severely low on her food supply for the month. He really didn't want to think she garnered an eating disorder, so he went with the latter, especially considering she didn't look scarily thin like most anorexic women should. In fact, aside from the injuries, she looked extremely healthy and fit.

Eggs it was. With a hum, he pulled the carton out of the fridge, as well as the loaf of bread, which was down to its last slices. He cooked all of the eggs, not even bothering to think of his own hunger when he cooked – all he cared about was Lightning.

In the back of his mind, he fought with himself. When should he bring up her capture? Now? Never? In a month when both of them nearly forgot all about it? It was a topic he didn't want to hear about, and he was sure that Lightning didn't want to speak about it. But the fact was that it was inevitable; it was now part of both of them, and as much as Snow wished it never happened, it was scorched on the back of both of their minds.

For a moment, Snow got so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost forgot about the food sizzling quietly on the stove in front of him, but the smell of eggs wafting into his nose made him snap out of his thoughts. He rummaged around the cupboards above the stove for a plate, and plated the large amount of scrambled eggs on it, also throwing a piece of toast next to them.

The whole time Snow had been cooking, Lightning was watching him. She noticed the small hums he sang, and how for a few moments, he seemed to be pensive, almost to the point of burning the food. She wanted to smile at it, but her mood and energy were so low that she wasn't sure she could even lift the fork to eat.

She watched as Snow set the warm plate right in her lap, fork sitting in the pile of eggs. Small streams of steam rose from the warm food and the scent invaded her senses. Suddenly, her stomach grumbled so loud that she was sure everyone in the whole damn complex could hear it. Lightning blushed to herself when Snow let out a deep laugh. Lightning – blushing? That man did the strangest things to her heart, and she wasn't sure what to think of them.

Tentatively, she attempted to lift the fork. The simple task failed, though, because soon after she lifted the normally feather-light object, it slipped from her hands back into the eggs.

"Fuck," she cursed. Lightning normally wasn't one to cuss, but she was on the breaking point. Everything was pissing her off. Why did those fuckers have to rip her of every last shred of dignity she had left? She felt empty now, like all she turned into was a void of nothingness.

With a sudden surge of adrenaline, she made the move to hurl her plate at the wall, but a strong hand grabbed her wrist before she could fling the ceramic plate. Her head spun to the left to see Snow staring at her, and a feeling of unrelenting love just flooded over her, and for a moment, the void that was her heart actually felt something. She didn't even notice when he took the plate out of her hand and set it on the coffee table in front of them; all Lightning could pay attention to was how he never took his clear blue eyes off of her, and how no one had ever looked at her like that since her mother.

A sob quietly escaped her mouth, which embarrassed the angry side of her. She honestly felt ashamed of feeling so weak; it wasn't something she really wanted to get used to. But the tears only came harder when Snow wrapped his arm around her and pulled her right against him. His paw soothingly ran up and down her back as he let her cry, knowing that she probably could use a good cry.

"Just let it out. Don't ever be afraid of showing who you are around me." And he meant it. The last thing Snow wanted was for Lightning to distance herself from him again, like she had for the past two years. The tears soaked through the plain white tee he wore, but he could wash it.

It was a while before the sobs subsided, but her body still quivered every once and a while beneath his touch. She looked up into his eyes, which stared right back into hers. They just stared at each other for that moment, souls intertwining in the deepest of ways that neither of them could understand. Without another thought, Lightning leaned up and pressed her lips gently against his. The kiss wasn't urgent or heated with passion like their last, but lingering and sweet. Snow was the one who broke the kiss, and it was then that they both knew nothing would be the same between them again.

* * *

Ta-da! That was Chapter Five, my loyal readers. The chapters to come won't be as graphic with the violence, but sexy time will be coming soon! ^^ Also, things are going to take another direction considering Light no longer is being held by evil men. So stay tuned!

_Chapter Six preview:_

_The water thudded rapidly against their bodies as they stood under the shower head, completely open. Lightning cringed despite herself when the heated water slid down her newly uncovered wounds, but the pain soon subsided, and she just took in how soothing it was to be cleaned._

_"Are you okay?" Snow's voice broke her out of her trance, and she turned her head a little to see her blond lover look down at her, his hair sticking to his face and water dripping everywhere. She pushed his hair back so it wasn't in his face with a small smile._

_"I'm fine. I'm doing better today actually than I have been..." she trailed off, looking down at her array of shampoos and body washes. To be honest, she felt content standing there in the shower with Snow with no barriers between them. In fact, there was a growing heat deep within her belly that she couldn't deny, and feeling Snow's taut body press against her backside didn't help it one bit. She was almost tempted to turn the cold water on, but she didn't want to let him know she was aroused._

_He leaned over her, grabbing her aqua blue loofa and her body wash. Deep red liquid squirted out of the bottle, and the exotic smell of fruit filled both of their nostrils, but he paused before he applied the soap. Lightning nodded in approval, and he began his work._

_Suds trailed down her sinfully smooth skin in each and every direction as Snow lathered the soap all over her body. He paid particular attentioned to her stiched up wounds, being extra gentle as he slid over them. Lightning didn't even feel the sting from the soap; she was more enthralled with how increasingly aroused she was becoming. Snow's achingly slow rotations on her body, how he deliberately avoided the peaks of her swollen breasts, and how he always pulled the loofa back up right before he reached the apex of her thighs. She lost it, though, when he placed one innocent kiss below her ear. _

_She spun around and hastily pulled his lips toward hers, capturing them in heated passion._

Uh-oh - are they gonna get sexy together? :O You won't know unless you **REVIEW,** that way I know I have people reading this who want to read more! So, just click the review button and make my day a little better! :D


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